A practical and fun identification manual for amateurs and professionals alike "Provides the beginning fossil vertebrate enthusiast with some valuable information about the fossils they are collecting."--Guy "Harley" Means, Florida Geological Survey "Illustrates how the dynamic story of ancient life and death and post-mortem utilization is accessible from the study of bone shapes. It is this very thing that made me want to be a paleontologist in the first place."--Pennilyn Higgins, University of Rochester Written primarily for the avid amateur and beginning paleontologist, What Your Fossils Can Tell You offers both experienced and novice fossil hunters and collectors the information needed to correctly identify and interpret the significance of their discoveries. Professionals in the field may also use this book as a pictorial resource to assist them in bridging the fields of pathology and archaeology as they relate to paleontology. Amateur fossil hunters are presented with the tools they need to recognize significant finds and knowledge of how to collect vertebrate fossils responsibly and legally. Robert Sinibaldi, in informal collaboration with a number of fossil experts, has compiled materials with a wide appeal. He explains many of the complex bumps, grooves, markings, and other anomalies that occur on fossil bones and teeth. A wealth of photographs helps readers visually identify these features and apply related concepts to their personal collections. Along with many common specimens, scores of unique fossil items appear here in print for the first time.

This book describes the process through which fossils are created, and what we can learn from them.

Donald R. Prothero’s Evolution is an entertaining and rigorous history of the transitional forms and series found in the fossil record. Its engaging narrative of scientific discovery and well-grounded analysis has led to the book’s widespread adoption in courses that teach the nature and value of fossil evidence for evolution. Evolution tackles systematics and cladistics, rock dating, neo-Darwinism, and macroevolution. It includes extensive coverage of the primordial soup, invertebrate transitions, the development of the backbone, the reign of the dinosaurs, and the transformation from early hominid to modern human. The book also details the many alleged “missing links” in the fossil record, including some of the most recent discoveries that flesh out the fossil timeline and the evolutionary process. In this second edition, Prothero describes new transitional fossils from various periods, vividly depicting such bizarre creatures as the Odontochelys, or the “turtle on the half shell”; fossil snakes with legs; and the “Frogamander,” a new example of amphibian transition. Prothero’s discussion of intelligent design arguments includes more historical examples and careful examination of the “experiments” and observations that are exploited by creationists seeking to undermine sound science education. With new perspectives, Prothero reframes creationism as a case study in denialism and pseudoscience rather than a field with its own intellectual dynamism. The first edition was hailed as an exemplary exploration of the fossil evidence for evolution, and this second edition will be welcome in the libraries of scholars, teachers, and general readers who stand up for sound science in this post-truth era.

Explains how fossils are formed and what they tell us about the past.

"[Are] you curious where ... fossils came from-- and who found them? Dig into this book to discover more about [the] exciting clues to the past!"--Page 4 of cover.

This book examines the ever-unfolding stories fossils reveal about the earth on Earth.

Describes fossils, how they were made, and what qualifies as a fossil.